Isabelle Extends An Invitation
by Ace-Of-Spades-2014
Summary: The invitation that Izzy says she extended to Magnus before the wedding.


Isabelle left her older brother alone in one of the older training rooms. She sighed and rolled her eyes once she was out in the hall, empty except for an anxious Jace leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Upon hearing her sigh, Jace gave a slight grimace. "That bad?"

'That bad' meaning Alec was still doing his best to pretend that marrying Lydia Branwell would fix all his problems, and was adamant in going through the motions of surliness. The misery that had been building within him since he was a preteen was now at its precipice and Izzy worried what would happen if it finally boiled over. Already he had distances himself from his family, from his parabatai, allowing himself to spiral downwards n his life choices.

Izzy abhorred the decision Alec had made, but after trying and failing too many times in her plea for him to take back his proposal, she had resigned herself to be as supportive as possible. The first step of showing support, she had decided, was to give Alec a bachelor party.

Except, Alec wasn't a fan of parties. Nor was he one to lose himself in alcohol, and he definitely wasn't one to be enticed by the sight of others (certainly both the sight of girls, but also not all that into the sight of men). She figured that might have been on man that Alec would have enjoyed watching with lustful eyes, but Izzy knew enough that it wouldn't be appropriate and that Alec would still deny it.

So all she could really do for her brother as a means of a 'bachelor party' was Jace...to give them a chance to reconcile. Because if Alec was determined to destroy any hope for future happiness by going through with a loveless marriage, he at least needed to be on speaking terms with his parabatai to get him through the long, lonely days ahead of him.

Izzy smiled at Jace, who had opened his eyes, innocent in their anxiety over him entering into the training room to talk to Alec. "It'll be fine," she reassured. It was a responsibility she had taken on at an early age - reassuring her two older brothers. "You two can fix this. You two need each other."

Nodding, Jace pushed himself off the wall and he walked into the training room with an air of pseudo confidence, something Jace had always been good at doing. Isabelle herself remained in the hall. It wasn't her place to invade in their space, but she couldn't bring herself to leave entirely. She blamed her worry over the fragile bond between her brothers, though her curiosity was equally at fault. There was a small part of her that felt bad to eavesdrop. In the end, however, the minor guilt that weighed on her wasn't enough to send herself away. She was simply too invested.

Then, in the midst of her brothers' explanations (mostly coming from Jace bless his exhausated heart) she heard Alec admit with a solemn and almost tired note, "You have this plan for your life and you know what you need to do and what your responsibilities are, then somebody comes along and pushes you off that path." He meant to speak about Clary's effect on Jace - how much Jace had changed, had come alive with a newfound sense of purpose, only to learn that the spunky redhead was his sister - but everyone was heard Alec's words knew the truth.

Like Clary, Magnus appeared in their life with flare, supposedly temporary only to find a more frequent fixture in their daily routine. And just like Clary had somehow given Jace a more specific purpose, the moment Magnus had singled Alec out as the pretty one, as the leader, there was at least a second of purpose within Alec.

That purpose, rather than giving him a reason to fight and break the rules, gave Alec a reason to be himself. Isabelle had seen it, if only for a brief moment, in the way her older brother would smile shyly or warm at the flirtatiousness of the warlock's attention. She knew he had accepted Magnus's request for drinks, though unfortunately they had never gotten around to doing so. Even Lydia, Alec's soon to be wife, had clearly seen the attraction between them, could see the way Magnus could turn the perfect soldier into a blushing and stumbling schoolboy with a crush.

With a disheartened sigh, Izzy headed out of the hall and towards the exit of the Institute.

But then Alec had to be Alec and walk away from that potential happiness. Seizing a chance for political security, he had chosen to deny the desires of his heart. Izzy had been furious with her brother when she had learned what he had done...what he had given up.

As frustrated as she was, however, she understood. Magnus may have ignited something within Alec, something that urged him to be himself, but he hadn't yet understood what he was risking everything for. THe powerful and dramatic warlock hadn't been around all that long after all, and Izzy knew her brother was a man who needed time to think.

Whereas he'd been thinking about being the Head of the New York Institute since he had been old enough to know their father's job. For years he had studied, trained, and made sure no one in the Clave could find fault in him. Then, because of a mistake that hadn't even been his, he had been faced with the possibility of losing the Institute, taken away from him before he ever got the ahold of it. So Izzy could understand why Alec would find a way to get the Institute back. It was only too bad that the only way he had thought to do was to form an alliance by marriage.

By that time in her roaming thoughts, Izzy suddenly realized that her feet had taken her to the front steps of the beautiful, Brooklyn building in which a certain beautiful warlock lived in her elegantly adorned loft. Taking a quick confident breath, she nodded in determination at the not so sudden decision that had come upon her, then headed up.

Unsurprisingly, Magnus had entered the building, and the moment she reached the top. What was surprisingly, however, was the disgruntled manner he greeted her. She had thought he liked her. Yet there he was, with an irritated frown and luminescent eyes practically glaring. "What do the nephilim want now?"

Ignoring his dark mood for now, Izzy stated with a smile. "I wanted to extend an invitation to you for Alec's wedding."

The dark expression momentarily morphed into something sadder. It quickly changed back. "Alec couldn't himself?"

Though he tried to hide the hurt, Izzy heard it clearly. Having spent years reading between the lines of a rough-around-the-edges Jace and a bland Alec, she had learned to be an excellent people reader. "Um, actually he doesn't know I'm here."

The frown deepened. "Then why exactly are you here inviting me?"

"Because you make him happy," she stated simply. Because to her, it was simply. The boys in her life just liked to make things complicated for themselves.

"Apparently not enough," Magnus snarked, snapping his fingers so a martini was in hand. He turned away from her, sipping his drink. "Alexander made his decision...and he was quite clear about how he feels about me."

Izzy cringed, wondering what her brother had said the last time he had seen the warlock. "Please try one more time."

At the sound of her plea (her attempt to change tactics), Magnus turned back around. He was still guarded, but there was a softness that had begun to come over him. Softly, he told her. "I understand what you are trying to do for your brother, but there's only so much a person can take of rejection."

Just as softly, Izzy sympathized, "I know, but I know my brother and I know he just needs a reason to fight. TO see that someone is willing to fight for him." She watched Magnus carefully. "Right now he has it in his mind that the Institute is all he can hope to achieve, that it's the path he needs to take, but you can be the one to push him off that path. To be the one that shows him what else he could have."

The warlock stared at her intently, seeming to take serious thought as to what she had said, but then replied, "I'll think about," in a tone that clearly belied the fact that he was done thinking about it and the answer was 'no'. "Now," he waved her away with a petty flourish, "if there's nothing else you need, I have things to do."

If it were anyone else, she may have stayed until he agreed to come to the wedding, but Magnus wasn't just any other man. He was a force to be reckoned with and probably just as stubborn, if not more so, than Alec himself. So she sighed and allowed herself to be ushered to the door. Before walking into the hallway, she whispered "Hope to see you there. Take care Magnus."


End file.
